When to Plant Spinach in Fairbanks, AK

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of determining when to plant spinach is to refer to the USDA zone info for Fairbanks.


Planting Calendar for Spinach

Frost tolerance for spinach: Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant: Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

You can plant spinach a bit earlier in the year because they are moderately cold tolerant.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant spinach
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant spinach
Probably not a good time to plant spinach

The earliest that you can plant spinach in Fairbanks is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant spinach and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your spinach may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your spinach indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on May 15 in Fairbanks. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -50°F.

Remember that USDA zone info for Fairbanks is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Fairbanks you get a frost after May 15 be ready to protect your spinach if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Fairbanks

Here is the info for USDA Zone 2a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)August 15
Lowest Expected Low-50°F
Highest Expected Low-45°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -50°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -45°F.

Plants to Grow in Fairbanks

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Fairbanks.